What was the process of early medieval urban development?

Question

Does anybody know of research papers or academic resources that study the full development and growth of medieval cities? I mean, from village stage to city stage. Or maybe cities did not develop that way. I'm trying to know what usually happened, in the most accurate and comprehensive way possible, since the "foundation" of what would be a city up to c. AD 1450. I know of course that most surviving cities c. AD 500 were old Roman forts etc., but were there any cities founded in Europe in the middle ages that are chronicled?

I am also curious about population in cities and villages. I mean, I know large medieval cities had around 20,000 people, but where did they live? As far as I know, medieval houses were not that big and there weren't many of them in cities and villages.

By the way, I'm only talking Europe here. Raw numbers aren't that important. I'd like to know about the process in great detail, at least of one particular city. Then, I think, raw numbers could be interpreted more easily, and common "stages" or "sub-processes" might be identified in other cities.

Answer 1

Offhand, you may want to look up Pirenne's work. His study of cities led to the powerful and controversial Pirenne Thesis, but I think that reading his original work would be valuable in itself and relevant to your question.

it was not the invasion of the Germanic tribes that destroyed the civilization of antiquity, but rather the closing of Mediterranean trade by Arab conquest in the seventh century. The consequent interruption of long distance commerce accelerated the decline of the ancient cities of Europe. Princeton University Press

One point to note about the question: describing a 5-6th century cities as "old Roman forts" is a serious oversimplification.

Answer 2

Well, looking at Paris we can see an example of a city that was built around an old Roman city. It's not entirely correct, as Felix pointed out, that medieval cities are descendants of "old Roman forts", as Roman cities were actually often used in a rather directly copied format.

In short, up until a certain time, it's pretty likely that cities were basically just rebuilt Roman ones. If a city was built or extended after Roman times, it was built around an important fortification or old Roman settlement but would be built not on a grid, rather taking advantage of the elevation of the surrounding terrain (according to Wikipedia). River banks would also serve as a guide for how towns came together.

This is not, however, to say exclusively that medieval towns were built without rhyme or reason; Elberg, for instance, was built with straight streets and a symmetrical design that was reminiscent of Roman designs and foreshadowed Renaissance building.

Answer 3

Well, the most Medieval of Medieval cities were not necessarily located in Northern or Central Europe, but rather, in Southern Europe, specifically, the cities of Toledo and Cordoba in Spain, as well as Constantinople....the Capital of the Byzantine Empire and the city of Venice in Northern Italy.

In terms of population, Constantinople was estimated to have approximately 500,000 residents about 1000 years ago, when the city was its political, commercial and cultural zenith. However, the Andalusian city of Cordoba, also was estimated to have a similar population size during its zenith, around the year, 900. And during The Late Middle Ages, the Castilian city of Toledo, became the most cosmopolitan European city West of Constantinople, Cairo and Baghdad (as well as North of Fes).

There was also the city of Venice, which, by the 1300's, begins to emerge as a major commercial center, as Constantinople began to wane in power. Many of the additional territories that Venice would eventually occupy, were Greco-Aegean islands which for several centuries, had been under the control of Byzantine Constantinople. In occupying much of the Aegean region during the latter part of the Middle Ages, Venice's wealth and sophistication as a major city-state began to take Center stage-(historically speaking).

These 4 European cities, were some of the more highly developed cities of the Middle Ages, centuries before the emergence of the Central and in particular, North European city.